Peristyle

Central Sicily


The main part of the villa is centred on the peristyle, a vast covered courtyard lined with amusing animal heads. This is where guests would have been received before being taken through to the basilica (throne room).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Central Sicily attractions

1. Villa Romana del Casale

0.01 MILES

Villa Romana del Casale is sumptuous, even by decadent Roman standards, and is thought to have been the country retreat of Marcus Aurelius Maximianus,…

2. Ambulacro della Grande Caccia

0.01 MILES

This 64m-long corridor is emblazoned with dramatic hunting scenes of tigers, leopards, elephants, antelopes, ostriches and a rhino – animals that the…

3. Little Hunt

0.01 MILES

Of the rooms on the northern side of the peristyle, the most interesting is a dining room featuring a hunting mosaic called the Little Hunt – 'little'…

4. Sala delle Dieci Ragazze

0.02 MILES

Just off the southern end of the Ambulacro della Grande Caccia, in the Sala delle Dieci Ragazze, is the villa's most famous mosaic. It depicts nine …

5. Palaestra

0.02 MILES

The palaestra wows with a splendid, sweeping mosaic depicting a chariot race at the Circus Maximus in Rome (the room is also known as the Salone del Circo…

6. Atrium

0.03 MILES

This elegant space functioned as the Roman villa's forecourt.

7. Frigidarium

0.03 MILES

The radiating apses in the the octagonal frigidarium contained bracing plunge pools.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
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      "url": "italy/sicily/villa-romana-del-casale/attractions/peristyle/a/poi-sig/1419515/1003647",
      "destination": "Central-Sicily",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Italy",
      "region": "Central-Sicily",
      "position": "superzone"
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